Published: Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at 04:45 PM.

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Theaters-goers will see 24 slices of life in the Little Theater of Gastonia’s upcoming production. Tonight is opening night for “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” which runs the next two weekends.

The play is based on five books by Robert Fulghum, and it’s directed by mother-daughter team Mary Massey and Kelly Ray.

Massey warned that viewers shouldn’t be fooled by the show’s title; it is not a children’s play but one that deals with life’s significant moments.

“It’s a very different kind of show. It is monologues and scenes and vignettes from people’s lives,” Massey said. “It’s very hopeful and positive, but it’s looking at things that happen in life.”

The two-hour play features six actors who perform 24 short scenes, which deal with cancer, death, growing old, hide and seek and more. The cast features people in their early 20s to their 70s, with each person playing a different character for every story.

“It just is a very meaningful journey for people,” Massey said. “You’ll be laughing; you’ll probably have tears in your eyes. You’ll find yourself really thinking and being filled with some real thought-provoking moments as well as the joy of life.”

Cast members are Leanna Cook, Patrick Daley, Steve Case, Jim Chandler, Eleanor Wixson and Bryan Rife. Set design and construction are by Jeff Manus and Michael Shelton, and costumes are by Leslie Hodnett.

Theaters-goers will see 24 slices of life in the Little Theater of Gastonia’s upcoming production. Tonight is opening night for “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” which runs the next two weekends.

The play is based on five books by Robert Fulghum, and it’s directed by mother-daughter team Mary Massey and Kelly Ray.

Massey warned that viewers shouldn’t be fooled by the show’s title; it is not a children’s play but one that deals with life’s significant moments.

“It’s a very different kind of show. It is monologues and scenes and vignettes from people’s lives,” Massey said. “It’s very hopeful and positive, but it’s looking at things that happen in life.”

The two-hour play features six actors who perform 24 short scenes, which deal with cancer, death, growing old, hide and seek and more. The cast features people in their early 20s to their 70s, with each person playing a different character for every story.

“It just is a very meaningful journey for people,” Massey said. “You’ll be laughing; you’ll probably have tears in your eyes. You’ll find yourself really thinking and being filled with some real thought-provoking moments as well as the joy of life.”

Cast members are Leanna Cook, Patrick Daley, Steve Case, Jim Chandler, Eleanor Wixson and Bryan Rife. Set design and construction are by Jeff Manus and Michael Shelton, and costumes are by Leslie Hodnett.

You can reach lifestyles reporter Andrea Honaker at ahonaker@gastongazette.com or 704-869-1840. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/andi384 and read her blog at lifelessons.blogs.gastongazette.com.